Mudbidri
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Mudbidri
Village in the Mangalore taluk of South Kanara Dis- trict, Madras, situated in 13" 5' N. and 75° E., 21 miles east of Mangalore town. It was once an important Jain town, and a descendant of the old Jain chief, known as ' the Chouter,' still resides here and draws a small pension. It contains eighteen Jain bastls or temples, one of which, the Chandranath temple, is the finest building of the kind in the District. It has about 1,000 pillars, all of them most beautifully and richly carved.
The architecture of these basits is peculiar, and Fergusson states that the nearest approach to the type is to be found in Nepal. By the sloping roofs of their verandas and the exuberance of their carving, they show that their architecture is copied from constructions in wood. Close by are some tombs of Jain priests, built in several storeys, but of no great size and now much decayed. There is also an old stone bridge, which is interesting as showing the ancient Hindu methods of constructing such works.
